Wednesday, September 15, 2010

ONE BATHROOM VS MULTIPLE BATHS/FAMILY UNITY OR SPACE?

I woke up, because basically it's something I do every morning, and I thought about my morning regimen. I typically don't leave my room until the bed is made and I'm showered, dressed, and have make-up on. Yes, there is a bath in this master bedroom I inhabit. I feel I am psychologically ready for the day if I walk into the rest of my house "prepared" like that. I virtually never leave my bedroom in my pajamas or with bedhead. Not because I'm vain, but it messes with my own space/time continuum of energy and focus.

This reminded me of when I was growing up in our little suburb of Columbus, Ohio. No one had more than one bathroom. Even though all the houses had three bedrooms, not one family in the neighborhhood had more than one bath. It was located at the end of the hall. We all had to share. Even my parents used that bathroom. I remember seeing my father's shaving paraphernalia in the medicine chest (I believe that's what it was called in our day). I remember seeing my mother's "cold cream" (and I still don't understand why it was called that). I remember how it smelled (flowery) and that it was pale pink and pretty. I remember my sister's Bonnie Bell products were in there for her adolescent skin. The only thing my brother and I had were toothbrushes. That was all we needed. Mom kept our Flintstone vitamins in the kitchen cupboard along with the aspirin. I still do this, as do my daughters....

That said, because there was only one bathroom, this forced us to leave our rooms and congregate in the dining room or living room in various conditions of dress. We still have pictures somewhere of my bro and I in full pajama-wear on the day after Christmas. He was witnessing me receiving a birthday present-which that year was bigger than usual. We had hideous bed-head and my brother had his typical bed-face-swollen eyes, etc. He was 11. I was now 12 and a year older than him. That was the best gift, we were no longer the same age. We're less than a year apart so during a portion of December, he was annoying as all get out.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is as architecture and housing design became more modernized, we compartmentalized our families. I have noticed that my daughter and her husband's master bedroom is a place where the kids shower and play on their bed-so I think that normalizes things there. But otherwise, it's easy to create borders. On the other hand, maybe kids needs their own space for those things. Maybe they like decorating their own bathroom, having just their "stuff" there.

I don't have an answer, I'm just comparing time and culture to now...because I'm old and have more life experience so I get to do that stuff....I'm just thinking of my own medicine cabinet and wish I could see my dad's razor and my mom's Ponds and some Bonnie Bell...

Or maybe I'm just killing time before I get out of this bed and start the day.....

3 comments:

Emmy said...

Jacob and I have long converstations about this. When we were looking for homes we were shocked by the master bedrooms that two closets, two toilets, two sinks (on opposite sides of the room), and two dressing areas, etc. We thought, "what the heck!? Do the people who lived here not like each other?" Jacob promised me that when we build our home that spaces cannot be separated like that - too much pulls our families apart. . .we don't need to do it to ourselves. I like that our bedroom is a gathering place - everyone feels safe and comfortable there. . . it's our second family room.

The Katzbox said...

I love your bedroom. I love it that even I have a comfort level in there. I love to play with the kids on your bed and I love love love that rocker in there. My favorite thing is to hold the baby while I'm rocking while the other two play on the big bed.
*heaven*

Emmy said...

Oh, just reading that makes me homesick for the present. . . I will miss these days so much when our kids are grown. . .